I'm Gonna Start with my Name
by SarcasticComment
Summary: Luck Gandor didn't have many friends as a child. And the ones he did have were weird at best. Although that might have something to do with how he met them. Luck meets Claire and Firo.


For most of his childhood Luck Gandor didn't have any friends. It was hard when your father ran an illegal organization and parents had their kids avoid you as much as possible. On top of that Luck wasn't the most sociable person ever and nothing about him was very friendly, it came with the territory (literally and metaphorically). Of course compared to stoic Keith and violent Berga he was as friendly as the shining sun.

On top of that, he was home schooled (because of the whole 'mafia' thing) and didn't interact with kids his age often, if at all. If he ever played, it was with a bunch of orphan kids or runaways on the street, who he wouldn't see again once they moved on to the next corner to beg and steal.

It was however, in on of these groups of wondering vagabonds where he met his first real friend. Well, friend may not have been the best term.

"Claire's on MY team," a young child announced from an alley that Luck happened to be passing by.

"No Claire was on your team last time, it's not fair for Claire to be on your team two times in a row!" Another child protested.

"Well too bad! You should have picked first!" The first child retorted back. Luck thought it was rather odd that the boys were fighting over a girl to be on their team, his curiosity got the best of him and he meandered into the alley.

'Must be quite a looker,' he thought now interested in seeing her.

So, Luck was utterly astonished when he saw two young boys playing tug-of-war with the arms of another boy, who was slightly older and slightly taller than them. The boy in the middle was very different compared to the other malnourished, plain, and disheveled children. His most striking feature was his vibrant red hair that was like wine. Or blood. He was skinny, but also fit and seamed misplaced amongst the delinquents. Luck noticed his clothes were nicer. He also looked to be quite enjoying himself.

"Mine!" the first boy said, continuing the squabble.

"Let's let him choose," the second boy, who seemed to be losing the argument, replied. The boy in the middle, Claire, seamed to consider this in a mock fashion for a moment before turning to the first boy and stating,

"I think I will play on Walter's team,"

"Yes!" yelled Walter.

"No fair!" screamed the other boy. However, he made no further attempts to change either of their minds. And they continued picking their teams. Luck decided that he would stay and play since he had nothing better to do, and he was picked in the fifth round for the second boy's team. Many of the children let out exasperated moans when they were picked for the second team, and Luck got the impression that they didn't like the leader or thought they would lose. Luck soon realized that he still didn't know what game they were going to play, so he asked a brown-haired girl who was wearing a dress three times too big.

"Kick the can," She informed him. "We're gonna lose though. Whoever has Claire ALWAYS wins." Luck glanced over to the ginger boy who was merrily talking to a member of his team. He looked a bit older than the rest of them but nothing suggested that he was particularly amazing. He said as much to the girl beside him.

"Well, he's really fast. Nobody can catch him, even Runner. He's super stealthy too, he can sneak up, kick the can, and find a new hiding spot before you turn around." She answered. Luck assumed she was exaggerating, but after the teams were picked and Luck's team was designated as 'it' he realized that every word was true. They had time to play four rounds before dusk came upon the city, and Claire's won each round. As night came, the children dispersed to return to their homes, or to find a comfty park bench on which they could spend the night. Except for Claire and Luck.

Luck stood there for a moment amazed at the speed that children could disappear and then made to follow them out of the alley, intending to leave the Kick the Can Master by himself. But the boy named Claire had other ideas,

"I heard your name is Luck Gandor, you weren't to Lucky today though," Claire laughed at his own stupid pun. Luck turned around to face Claire, rather annoyed at his comment. Claire completely ignored the glare he received and continued with the conversation.

"My name is Claire Stanfield, and if you make fun of my name I'll break all your fingers," Claire said the smile remaining on his face. "Do you want to be my friend?" he asked.

"Why do you want me to be your friend?" Luck asked annoyed.

"Because I think you'll become an important part in my world, so getting to know you just makes sense. Also, my parents died last week and you look like you live in a decent house and if you're my friend I have an excuse to live there."

"What?" Luck asked utterly confused at the entirety of Claire's rant.

"Can. I . Live. With. You?" Claire asked pronouncing each syllable as if speaking with a dimwit.

"What?" Luck asked again still not understanding.

"Oh! Maybe you can even adopt me! Then we can be brothers! That will solve all of my problems!" Claire said, his brain running on an entirely different circuit than Luck's.

"What?!" Luck said for the third time, more confused than ever.

"Alright," Said Claire. "You lead the way home and then we can talk it over with your folks!" Some of this information finally leaked its way into Luck's brain and it convinced him that the young man in front of him was insane. (He was right of course, but it would turn out that Claire was a lot more insane than he originally thought).

Luck decided to allow Claire to follow him home for two reasons. The first was that he couldn't shake him. Claire followed him home at his heels blabbering nonsense about gods and the world being his all the way home, so Luck simply chose to ignore him. He couldn't run away of course, Claire was just too fast. The second reason was that he was sure Berga, Keith, and his father would scare the shit out of Claire and leave him running back to wherever he came from with his tail between his legs.

He was so wrong.

He walked into the house and was greeted with the familiar sights, smells, and noises. His home was cramped, a two room apartment with a living room and kitchen that doubled as a dining room. His mother was finishing up whatever cooking needed to be done for dinner and he heard Berga yelling at the radio because the Dodgers were losing. Luck reasoned that Keith and his father were still at work, but would be back within the hour.

"For gods sake Luck, if you're gonna be so goddamn late tell me. You could've been mugged and left out to die in some ditch somewhere and I would be none the wiser." His mother scolded. Although there was neither worry nor relief in her voice. His mother was a petite woman with sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her attitude was pessimistic, although she always pretended like she cared ."And if you're gonna bring company over tell me first so I make enough food." She said for the first time noticing Claire. She inspected him more closely. "Aren't you a cute thing. He one of your friends Luck?" Luck's mother asked.

"Yep," Claire told her before Luck could open his mouth and tell her that he had met the other boy not three hours before. "I asked Luck if I could stay with him and he said sure!" Claire fibbed. "And I've always wanted to meet his family and he always talks about his siblings and how nice you are Mrs. Gandor!"

"Aren't you a sweetheart?" Mrs. Gandor replied wooed by the boy's sugar-coated lies.

"Thanks ma'am. I was a little worried about coming here, but I really had no place to go since my parents died last week, so I thought why not go to my dear friend Luck's house?" Claire said with big puppy dog eyes and a small smile that would turn a witch into a saint if it so desired. And, in less than a two minute Claire had Mrs. Gandor wrapped around his finger.

"You poor thing! You can stay here as long as you need." Luck's mother said to Claire with a look in her eyes that one might give to a widowed woman.

"You're so generous ma'am!" Claire said with a grin Luck christened 'The Devil's Leer'. It was the conceited grin of a winner, but it also seemed full of malicious intent.

"What's going on in here?" Berga asked as he busted through into the room. His eyes focusing first on his mother, then on Luck, before settling on Claire.

"Who the hell are you twerp?" Berga asked Claire.

"My name's Claire Stanfield. I'm Luck's friend, I'm gonna stay here for awhile." Claire answered in an even tone, no longer using sweet words, they wouldn't work on Berga.

"Ehh you got a weird name," Berga said. Claire sighed,

"I know. It's dreadful, I think I'll change it one day." Claire responded.

"Ehh, well just stay out of my way and don't touch my stuff. I also get dibs on all girls and grub. You got it punk?" Berga said, to lazy to do an interrogation.

"Yep. Easy peasy." Claire said displaying the Devil's Leer once more. Two down, two to go. Luck was getting anxious, maybe he would really get stuck with this maniac. They all sat and talked at the table awaiting the arrival of the two men of the house. They didn't have to wait long, Mr. Gandor and Keith appeared a few minutes later.

They both hung their long trench coats and fedoras on the coat rack and headed for the dinner table where the rest of the family waited. Mr. Gandor was quite a menacing man. He had Berga's large build as well as Keith's perpetual scowl and Luck's gold fox-eyes.

"Welcome home," Luck's mother said a small smile on her face. She rose to retrieve the meatloaf and mashed potatoes from the oven where they was keeping warm. Mr. Gandor was already seated at the head of the table before he noticed Claire.

"Who are you?" He asked gruffly.

"My name is Claire Stanfield. I'm a friend of Luck's and your wife said I could stay here for the time being." Claire answered politely.

"How old are you?" he asked

"Nine," Claire answered.

"So you're a year older than Luck. You good for anything, or should I just throw you on my doorstep now?" Luck's father said very seriously.

"Well, I'm real fast and pretty decent in a fight. I was an only child, but I can do all of those house-hold chores and stuff. I can pick locks and pockets and I can almost always get people to do what I want them to." Claire said. The Devil's Leer appeared again. Mr. Gandor seemed to consider him for a moment and looked him up and down before announcing,

"You can stay, kid."

Everyone ate their dinner.

That night Luck pondered the lump sleeping beside him. He was used to sharing a bed with Berga, so he was grateful for the extra leg room, but he could still not sleep, there was, after all, a stranger sleeping beside him.

"Did you manipulate my entire family into adopting you?" Luck whispered when he was sure Keith and Berga were asleep in the other bed.

"Basically," was the answer. "Don't worry, you'll all come to love me. Or put up with me at least."

Luck felt certain that, that would never be the case, but in a week Claire felt like his brother at the most and a friend at the least. He was not sure when he learned to like Claire. Maybe it was when he somehow managed to give Berga a black eye, or when he convinced his mother to make cookies three days in a row. Maybe Luck liked him all along. Regardless, Luck had made his first friend, even though it was through a forced friendship.

The second friend he made was a bit simpler.

It had been a year since Claire started living with the Gandors. Claire was now ten and Luck was nine and they sat fishing over the edge of the pier. They hadn't caught much and what they had they released back because they were too small to do anything with. It was late afternoon when a young thickly accented voice said,

"They bitin'?" Luck and Claire turned to greet the owner of the voice. It was a boy a year or two younger than Luck. He had messy light brown hair and a short stature. His face was rather girly in appearance and if he grew out his hair a tiny bit and switched the too-large slacks and stained sweater with a dress he could easily be mistaken for a girl. His smile, however conveyed boyish delight.

"Not really," replied Claire.

"Too bad. Have ya tried jumping on the pier? Makes all the fish scurry out and take ya bait," the boy suggested. He demonstrated by jumping up and landing with a load 'thud'. Sure enough, a few seconds later Luck felt a tug on his string. He quickly reeled in the fish hoping it didn't break free. The fish stayed hooked. It was of a medium size, the first decent fish they caught all day. Luck took the hook out of its mouth carefully so that it didn't slither out of his hands and end up back in the river. He set the still alive fish in the center of the pier where it flopped around a bit before Claire's boot crushed its skull killing it instantaneously. Claire loved killing fish, especially if it got bloody. Luck tried not to be scared of that fact. After the fish was good and dead Luck turned to the young boy and said,

"Hey thanks, you're pretty smart,"

"No problem. But I ain't really that smart. I was fishin' here once and some drunk was bouncin' up and down the pier. Gotta good catch tha day. Mind if I join ya?" He asked.

"Be my guest," Luck said gesturing to space to his left.

"Thanks," The boy said sitting down. "Ma name's Firo by the way."

"I'm Claire and this is my foster brother Luck," Claire told Firo.

"Ya got odd names," Firo said.

"So do you," Luck pointed out.

"It's Italian, my pa was Italian," Firo said. He shrugged. "Never gave it much thought before. It's just a name. Don't mean much," Firo said leaning back and looking at the large puffy clouds that floated overhead.

"Well, names are very important. They hold a sense of belonging you ARE your name. Without a name you are just another thing. You can't know a person until you know their name," Claire said dramatically. He paused for a moment before saying, "which is why one day I'll get a new name 'cause 'Claire' **sucks**." At that moment Claire got a bite and he reeled up the fish. It was considerably larger than the one Luck had caught. He smirked before killing the fish in the exact same fashion as he had a minute ago. (It wasn't THAT creepy Luck tried to tell himself). "Besides," Claire continued once the fish was dead, "My future wife will have 'Stanfield' as a last name and I wouldn't inflict that on any person,"

"It ain't to bad, try Prochainezo, I'm not even quite sure how to spell it," Firo said poking fun at himself. Luck wondered it he was being serious, he didn't look like he had any formal schooling. In fact, Firo reminded him of the urchins he had found Claire with. He didn't look like he had a home, Luck wanted to ask, but it seemed too personal a question to ask an almost stranger. The conversation rolled along without him.

"Luck's lucky his last name is Gandor, it's simple. Any lady would be lucky with that name. Not that Luck pays attention to girls." Claire said teasingly.

"I do!" Luck protested, "You just pay more attention to girls than the average person! He proposed to the girl who sells flowers at the end of the street two days ago!"

"That's 'cause I liked her," Claire defended himself.

"She's sixteen and you don't even know her name!" Luck retorted back.

"Alright, don't worry from now on I will ask a girl her name before I propose," Claire said. "Names are important after all!"

"That's not the point," Luck said, frustrated.

Firo, naturally, found the whole exchange to be hilarious, and was rolling around on the pier.

"You're brother's crazy," Firo said to Luck with a big grin on his face once he caught his breath. Luck sighed,

"I know, he's ten and proposing…"

"Hey!" Claire interjected, "I bet a dollar I'll get married before you do Luck. And I'm not going to stop proposing to girls!"

"Yeah, I bet a dollar too," Firo said, not wanting to miss out on the fun.

"Do you even have a dollar?" He asked Firo.

"Well, not right now, but I will, and besides, you're the one whose gonna owe me a dollar," He said.

"How am I going to know you got married? I met you today and I know nothing about you really," Luck said sensibly.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to be friends with ya so I invite you to my weddin'. If you're lucky I'll let ya be my best man," Firo said smiling. And so, Luck made his second friend.

(in the end he owed both Firo and Claire a dollar, It amazed him how the world's most out-going man and the world's shyest man got hitched before he did.)

A/N: This was fun to write and I hope it was at least a little funny. I thought I wrote Claire really well he's surprisingly easy Luck seems a bit OOC but he's young and not mafia influenced so I thought he might be a bit more child like. Hope you enjoyed. Review! [edit: edited some grammar and changed the title. I didn't notice my story had a theme with names till I reread it.]


End file.
